Milwaukee Residents Continue To Speak Out Over Shooting Of Dontre Hamilton

As problems between police and local communities flare up in cities like New York, Cleveland and Ferguson, Missouri, Milwaukee residents continue to voice their frustration to officials about the shooting of a mentally ill black man named Dontre Hamilton.

A white police officer named Christopher Manney shot Hamilton more than a dozen times in April during an altercation at a downtown park. Manney has since been fired for his conduct during the incident, but Hamilton’s family and their supporters are continuing to call for criminal charges to be brought against Manney. Milwaukee District Attorney John Chisholm is still reviewing the case.

On Thursday, a crowd of people marched through the city’s downtown to a meeting of the city’s Fire and Police Commission, halting traffic along the way. As the marchers filed into the meeting, Marty Wall said there have been many cases over the years in which racial minorities have felt mistreated by police.

“Been here a long time, been here all my life, and this is holding us back from being a great city,” said Wall. “Until we address it, we’re really just spinning our wheels.”

For about an hour, the protesters asked the Fire and Police Commission to hold a private meeting with the Hamilton family and uphold Officer Manney’s termination, which is being appealed.

At one point, Hamilton’s mother Maria interrupted testimony when she saw a person among a group of recently promoted, mostly white police cadets laughing at protesters’ remarks.

“The job that you just signed up for is important — don’t play with the community lives. If you ain’t ready, take the badge off. My son died from one of y’all. That wasn’t right,” Hamilton told the audience member.

After the meeting, Hamilton and a few others were invited to the front of the room to briefly discuss their concerns with the commission’s chairperson.

The Hamiltons’ lawyer Jonathan Safran said later that the commission fears a private meeting with the family could taint the panel’s upcoming review of Officer Manney’s firing, and wants to wait on the district attorney’s decision on whether to file criminal charges in the case. Safran said that’s understandable.